Australian country singer Kasey Chambers is, to put it lightly, a little busy these days. She and husband Shane Nicholson have just completed their second album together, Wreck and Ruin, her covers record, Storybook, comes out in the States this week, and in between the gigs, the studio time, and the interviews, she’s got three […]

Merle Haggard returned to play a show in Macon, where he was hospitalized with pneumonia and other health issues earlier this year: “I wound up here in the hospital several days with you. I forgot how many, they had me under some really good dope…Macon’s got the best dope in the hospital I’ve ever seen. […]

The Ryman will soon get a new stage. Deana Carter launched a brand new website and gave a glimpse of her upcoming album: I have been writing SO much that it’s been hard to carve out time to get back in the studio for my own record, much less decide which songs to do! What […]

Coming on December 1 from Texas A&M University Press: I’ll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt, by Brian T. Atkinson. Barry Mazor was quoted in the press release: “Commendably, I’ll Be Here in the Morning celebrates the artful song maker and intellect Van Zandt was at his best and […]

Check out some new tunes from Emily West. And one from the Avett Brothers. Loretta Lynn canceled an appearance in Ohio for health reasons. In honor of the 50th Philadelphia Folk Festival, local brewery Yards is releasing Folk Fest Lager, to debut at, of course, the festival from August 19-21. On August 16, Rodney Dillard […]

Being six months pregnant in the sauna that is a Washington, DC summer—after a transcontinental flight and sleeping in a tour bus bunk—seems, well, pretty miserable. You wouldn’t know it by looking at Kasey Chambers, though. Her Saturday night show at Alexandria, Virgina’s Birchmere was an hour and forty minutes of pure delight thanks to […]

In yesterday’s roundup we forgot to list a new edition of Country California’s always excellent Quotable Country. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are returning as CMA Awards hosts. This year’s awards show will be held November 9. Rural Rhythm Records is packing up and moving from the Los Angeles area to Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Says […]

The Nashville Songwriters Association International handed out awards in its Nashville parking lot yesterday. The Tennessean has a brief recap. More awards were handed out yesterday during the Academy of Country Music Honors — the special award recipients and non-televised winners of the ACM Awards. Poet’s Award winners were Cindy Walker and Don Schlitz, Mel […]

Last.fm Top Artists After a flirtation with some new albums, most of The 9513 group members went back to the old favorites this week. Miranda Lambert is #1 with 29 listeners, and Sugarland makes the big leap up to #2 with 27. That’s nine more listeners than last week. Lady Antebellum and Josh Turner, meanwhile, […]

I don’t like monkeys. But this isn’t the Friday Therapy Hour, it’s the Friday Five, so check out these monkey songs. Honorable Mentions: “One Monkey” by Gillian Welch; “Monkey Let the Hogs Out” by Jerry Douglas; “One Less Monkey” by Lorrie Morgan; “Monkey Dance” by T-Bone Burnett; “Monkey on the Doghouse” by Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers. […]